Please
by Aliquis
Summary: When Draco is ill, Hermione helps him- How hard will it be for Hermione to part with her previously bitter memories of rivalry?


**_ PLEASE_**  
  
  
  
  
  
"Honestly, Malfoy, I thought you..." Hermoine faltered as she entered the room, looking at the seemingly innocent face of her once enemy, Draco Malfoy, already asleep on the common room couch.   
  
Hermione frowned as she prepared to jostle Draco into wakefulness. Honestly, she didn't have the time nor the patience to wait for the git! The sleeping drought she had given him had either worked far too soon, or Draco had been far more exhausted then he would have ever admitted.  
  
" Malfoy, come _on_," Hermione snapped impatiently, hesitating briefly before shaking his shoulders.  
  
A couple of loose strands from Draco's normally well kept hair whisped lightly over the the boy's forehead, bobbing in succession to the forceful shakes his body was undergoing. Yawning half-heartedly into the cushions of the velvet couch, Draco's eyes slowly opened, fixing themselves upon an agitated looking Hermione.   
  
Hermione tapped her foot warningly, " I told you not to fall asleep, Malfoy."  
  
Draco's sleep glazed expression cleared ever so slightly in realization as he propped himself on one elbow in front of the Gryffindor, wavering slightly as the drought had still not cleared from his system.  
  
"...You still won't call me 'Draco', will you?" Draco drawled in a monotone, yet slightly hurt voice, covering his mouth this time as he yawned in the opposite direction of Hermione- burying himself yet again with his blankets.  
  
Hermione flushed guiltily as she absentmindedly watched Draco go back underneath the covers...  
  
Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Hermione snapped to attention. "Oh, no you don't, Malfoy!" Hermione forcefully snatched the covers from Draco's grip, sending the Slytherin tumbling to the floor in one rapid movement. The covers had been underneath his body- and she had forgotten.  
  
"Damn it,Hermione! " Draco snarled, boosting himself up to his full height as he seemingly jumped from the floor.  
  
Draco suddenly regretted the move, as a quick stab of nausea filled the haze of his mind, creeping into the outer edges of his sanity. It had been nearly a week of this...sickness, if you could call it that. It had been more of a curse in Draco's eyes... but still- having his own private "nurse" did have its advantages....  
  
Hermione rested her hands on her hips, " Look, Malfoy, as much as we both hate doing this, we _will_ have to co-operate here. I am not some robot about to do all your dirty work for you, got it? Good. Now, wipe that look from your face- I have some food for you."  
  
Sometimes Hermione was more trouble than she was worth, though. Nag, Nag, _Nag_!  
  
Draco scratched his arm groggily, " What are you rambling about? It's two in the morning for God's sake, Woman! Leave me be!"As Draco attempted to fall asleep again, Hermione yanked him back off the couch.  
  
Hermione huffed, " Fine! If that is the way you are going to play it, _Malfoy_, then starve to death! I made you some soup..."  
  
Draco stared incredulously at the "soup", which looked suspiciously stringy and far too chunky for a mere tomato broth...   
  
He had suddenly lost his appetite.  
  
Deciding to play by Hermione's rules for once, Draco stared pointedly at the soup.  
  
" You expect me to eat _that_ trash? Honestly, _Granger_ , I would have thought that you would have learned to cook by now- How long have you been serving me now? A week?" he snarled half-heartedly, exaggerating the use of her last name to make his point.  
  
"_Serving_?! I am not your personal maid, _Malfoy_- no matter what you may think! And if you want to get some over-spiced, broiled chop of lamb on your plate, you can go cry home to your Mum! But for now, you are stuck with me, and I am stuck with you- so deal with it!"  
  
Draco stared wearily at Hermione.  
  
" You still can't call me _'Draco'_... can you?" he reiterated sourly, feeling painfuly dejected.  
  
Hermione paused, shaking herself slowly.  
  
" It's... hard, you understand. Its not a habit one can break over night. It's a habit, Malfoy."  
  
"Yes. A habit," Draco snarled wearily, attempting to rid his headache by rubbing his temples.  
  
Draco suddenly realized how very tired he was, wanting nothing more than to be asleep and warm...  
  
That's when he got an idea.  
  
Gathering his strength, Draco sucked in an untraceable breath as he grabbed Hermione by the waist, pulling her into his familiar embrace.   
  
" Malfoy...." Hermione gasped.  
  
" Draco," he corrected, looking her in the eye. " Draco."  
  
As his lips touched hers, Hermione felt as though she were being bathed in a dazed sort of warmth... an almost sticky sort of sensation...silken, just like his flesh. Hermione let out a frustrated sigh as she gave in - replying heartedly with her own lips, savouring the pleasure of flesh to flesh contact. Draco would never normally let her be the lead..._   
  
_Hermione frowned._ He must be truly ill...._  
  
Suddenly collapsing into her embrace, Malfoy gripped Hermione's shoulders weakly, breathing heavily, yet still triumphant. Slowly lowering his burning body onto the couch, Draco desperately wished that Hermione would kiss him again, as he had little strength left to make another attempt...   
  
Draco's lids suddenly felt very heavy.  
  
" No more work, Hermione. Sleep with me," Draco prompted slowly, his familiar drawl becoming nothing more than a murmur.  
  
"I don't know... " she hesitated, starting to move away from the sick yet devilishly handsome body beneath her.  
  
Draco's arm suddenly grabbed hers, as he looked at Hermione under half lidded eyes, kissing her hand.  
  
" Please?"  
  
Hermione froze. Draco never said 'please' to anyone... least of all to her! Yet, there he was, asking her permission as though it were a plead to be let into heaven itself. The word alone would not have motivated Hermione to do anything so absurd as to sleep next to a Malfoy- but in the way it had been said.... it was as if it were the most heavenly prayer... his last form of redemption, even!- or perhaps... perhaps even the sweetest caress of a lover's kiss...  
  
Hermione's eyes narrowed pensively. _Does he really care that much about me?_  
  
Tracing the side of his face gingerly, Hermione gently massaged Draco's feverishly warm scalp through the silken locks of his light blond hair. Draco moaned lightly, leaning back into Hermione's cool hand.   
  
Yes, she decided suddenly, it was definitely the drought that was making him do this.  
  
Draco looked at her smugly over the incline of his chin- a classic Malfoy look- yet with something more assuring than arrogance. It was fine-tuned, something deeply profound... something which Hermione guessed was rarely seen within his beautiful, grey eyes.   
  
His eyes were marvellous, his message lucid... and - above all else- his emotions honest.  
  
Draco shivered violently in the chills of his fever, giving Hermione a small, yet genuine grin as he closed his eyes in concentration, valiantly fighting to stay awake. " _Please_?"  
  
Hermione found her own eyes filling with tears, looking at the form of her once enemy- now love -as she lay silently beside him. Taking his tall form into her firm embrace, Hermione felt Draco exhale shakily, kissing her cheek faintly. Hermione snuggled closer into her love's embrace.  
  
" Yes," Hermione whispered hoarsely." Yes, I will... _ Draco_ ."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
© Nina 2002. All rights reserved.  
  
  



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